I remember when virtue, honor, military service, and up from the boot-straps was a badge of honor within the Republican Party. Once being honest, saying what you think, and having the ability to think with pragmatic individuality was the hallmark of an elected Republican official. There was no litmus test for ideology. There was no need for petty ideology. Republicans knew who they were and what they and their elected officials stood for:

Limited government

Lower taxes

Law & order

Strong national defense

Equality of opportunity

Free enterprise

These things were – and still are part of Republican Principles:

“I’m a Republican Because…
I BELIEVE the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.
I BELIEVE in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.
I BELIEVE free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.
I BELIEVE government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.
I BELIEVE the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.
I BELIEVE the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.
I BELIEVE Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.
I BELIEVE Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.
FINALLY, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government….”

These words are on the current GOP web site. They were tacked to the wall of the little GOP headquarters we Young Republicans had in 1972 when Nixon was running for office. They were framed and hanging on the wall of the building we used as a headquarters when Reagan was running – both times. They were framed and hanging on the wall when George H. W. Bush was running. From what I can remember, they have been around for a very long time – and have never changed.

I remember such remarkable leaders as Everett Dirkson, who would today be castigated by conservatives as not being ideaological enough. What he did with Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam would earn him eternal hate from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

“…As President Johnson followed Dirksen’s recommendations and escalated the war, Dirksen gave him strong public support, as well as strong support inside the Republican caucus, even as some Republicans advised him that it would be to the party’s advantage to oppose Johnson. Ford commented, “I strongly felt that although I agreed with the goals of the Johnson administration in Vietnam, I vigorously criticized their prosecution of the war. Now, Dirksen never took that same hard-line position that I took.” [Dietz 149]…”

It is called “LEADERSHIP”.

Dirkson’s son-in-law is Howard Baker, US Senator and former Reagan Chief of Staff. He too, would be castigated today for not being “pure”. He was known as “The Great Conciliator”

“…Baker is often regarded as one of the most successful senators in terms of brokering compromises, enacting legislation, and maintaining civility….Baker was also the influential ranking minority member of the Senate committee, chaired by Senator Sam Ervin, that investigated the Watergate scandal. He is famous for having asked aloud, “What did the President know and when did he know it?”, a question given him to ask by his counsel and former campaign manager, future U.S. Senator Fred Thompson….”

Then there was Barry Goldwater. Today’s conservatives worship him, but Goldwater thinks they were a “bunch of kooks – and disliked them tremendously.”

“…two years later stated that the Republican party had been taken over by a “bunch of kooks”. In a 1994 interview with the Washington Post the retired senator said,“ When you say “radical right” today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican party and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye. ”

In response to Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell’s opposition to the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court, of which Falwell had said, “Every good Christian should be concerned”, Goldwater retorted: “Every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”

Goldwater also had harsh words for his one-time political protege, President Reagan, particularly after the Iran-Contra Affair became public in 1986. Journalist Robert MacNeil, a friend of Goldwater’s from the 1964 Presidential campaign, recalled interviewing him in his office shortly afterward. “He was sitting in his office with his hands on his cane…and he said to me, ‘Well, aren’t you going to ask me about the Iran arms sales?’ It had just been announced that the Reagan administration had sold arms to Iran. And I said, ‘Well, if I asked you, what would you say?’ He said, ‘I’d say it’s the god-damned stupidest foreign policy blunder this country’s ever made!'”, though aside from the Iran-Contra scandal, Goldwater thought nonetheless that Reagan was a good president.

Also, in 1988 during that year’s presidential campaign, he pointedly told vice-presidential nominee Dan Quayle at a campaign event in Arizona “I want you to go back and tell George Bush to start talking about the issues.”

Some of Goldwater’s statements in the 1990s aggravated many social conservatives.

He endorsed Democrat Karan English in an Arizona congressional race, urged Republicans to lay off Bill Clinton over the Whitewater scandal, and criticized the military’s ban on homosexuals: “Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar.”

He also said, “You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.”

A few years before his death he went so far as to address the right wing, “Do not associate my name with anything you do. You are extremists, and you’ve hurt the Republican party much more than the Democrats have.”

In 1996, he told Bob Dole, whose own presidential campaign received lukewarm support from conservative Republicans: “We’re the new liberals of the Republican party. Can you imagine that?“…”

Conservatives have gone too far. Like Goldwater said, they are destroying the GOP.

Post navigation

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SJ Reidhead (aka The Pink Flamingo) is a writer based in New Mexico. The author of two published novels, both westerns: Dust Devil and The Second Mrs. Earp and two published works of non-fictions: TRAVESTY: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed and A Church for Helldorado, Endicott Peabody's 1882 Tombstone Diary. One of the leading authorities on the life of Wyatt Earp and Tombstone during the Earp years, she is writing a series of murder mysteries set in modern day Tombstone. The author is also working on a book about fashion in the Wild West. When complete, there will be over 2100 unpublished antique photographs dating from 1855-1910.

The author's work has appeared in Wild West, True West, Blogcritics, and The Tombstone Times. Recently the author has had to deal with a father who succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. This is leading to a book dealing with the frustrations of dealing with the frustrations of the disease, finance, legal, health-care, and things no one bothers telling families about it. A portion of the book will contain entries from a blog she kept, detailing the struggle with her father's AD. She is also working on a murder mystery series set in modern day Tombstone and Cochise County. Several books of essays on Christian living are currently in edits. A book of essays and revisions of articles about Wyatt Earp has been completed and will include her latest work detailing her theory about the murder of his second wife, Mattie.

SJ Reidhead has been involved in Republican politics since she was 'a little kid'. During the Reagan years she was a lobbyist working with various non-profit organizations who were attempting to salvage NASA and the American space program after the disastrous Carter years. In spite of ups and downs, and numerous disappointments, politically, it is obvious the only political hope for this country is via the Republican Party. Along with politics she is an opera fanatic, has been known to stalk baritones to the point of being a baritone junkie, and loves baseball.

The Pink Flamingo went on line on October 4, 2005.

THE PINK FLAMINGO STORY

It started out as a joke. During the seven years I worked with the girls of my parish, leading a youth group, one of the things that I stressed were manners. Part of having manners, the way I see it, is to know how to set a proper table, host a party, cater it, and clean up afterward. I was fortunate enough to have a group of very talented girls in my youth group. They learned how to plan for, and execute large church functions, very properly. During one such function I noticed there were several incredibly tacky pink flamingos sitting on the table. Knowing the girls were up to something, I said nothing. A few months later they did the same thing at a function I was hosting at my home. I said nothing. They had a birthday party for me. More pink flamingos appeared - and a joke was born.

Thanks to the girls, all of whom are now grown, I have a collection of pink flamingos. It has become an ongoing joke. When I began working on my political blog, I realized the only possibly title was The Pink Flamingo!